Published: Tuesday, December 11, 2012 at 6:34 p.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, December 11, 2012 at 6:34 p.m.

Melanie Fabre stood in a cold, muddy field along Grand Caillou Road Tuesday and saw promise.

Fabre has taught at Grand Caillou Middle School for 25 years. She grew up five houses down from the school. She sent her son there.

So Fabre knows as well as anyone how important the building that will soon stand in that field will be.

The current Grand Caillou Middle School building has flooded seven times in recent memory. In her son's middle school career alone, the school flooded twice.

“He lost his grandfather, his home and his school all in one day. And he's not the only one like that,” Fabre said. “When hurricane season comes, their stomachs start churning, because they know how easily everything can just get washed out.”

That's why Fabre cares so much about the field, which sits just south of Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center and Ellender High School in Terrebonne Parish.

Water-weary residents of the school community hope the new Grand Caillou Middle School will finally put them out of the floods' reach.

School Board officials gathered at the site Tuesday to break ground on the new building. It was a moment that's been a long time in the making for School Board member Roger DeHart, who said he's been pushing to find land and money for the new school for more than a decade.

“The students at this school deserve better than what they've got,” he said. “Every time we get a major hurricane, that school floods, and all those kids' learning just gets completely disrupted.”

The effort has faced some hurdles. Near the very end of the process, the building's cost jumped to $15.7 million from an original budget of $12 million.

But DeHart said he's happy with the price in the end. The school system is paying for the school with special interest-free bonds, and the Walter Land Co. donated the property on which it will sit.

“Building a new school is a rare event. It's a very big deal,” DeHart said. “We're building something that will last for generations.”

Merlin Lirette, the architect who designed the building, said the school will be built as flood-proof as possible.

The almost 58,000-square-foot building will sit behind the parish's new Thompson Road levee expansion, which should make it less vulnerable to storm surge.

It will stand 10 feet above sea level and be two stories tall, with all the classrooms, computer labs and other vital academic areas a floor off the ground. It will be made of materials that are easy to maintain and clean, so the process of recovering from any storms that cause flooding will be much easier.

Lirette said Thibodaux-based Thompson Construction Co., which is also building the freshman expansion at H.L. Bourgeois High School, will finish the building by the fall of 2014.

That can't come soon enough for Fabre.

“The kids and the teachers and the parents just can't wait,” she said. “We've been waiting so long for this school, and we're going to be so, so proud when we finally have it.”

Staff Writer Matthew Albright can be reached at 448-7635 or at matthew.albright@dailycomet.com.

<p>Melanie Fabre stood in a cold, muddy field along Grand Caillou Road Tuesday and saw promise.</p><p>Fabre has taught at Grand Caillou Middle School for 25 years. She grew up five houses down from the school. She sent her son there.</p><p>So Fabre knows as well as anyone how important the building that will soon stand in that field will be.</p><p>The current Grand Caillou Middle School building has flooded seven times in recent memory. In her son's middle school career alone, the school flooded twice.</p><p>“He lost his grandfather, his home and his school all in one day. And he's not the only one like that,” Fabre said. “When hurricane season comes, their stomachs start churning, because they know how easily everything can just get washed out.”</p><p>That's why Fabre cares so much about the field, which sits just south of Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center and Ellender High School in Terrebonne Parish.</p><p>Water-weary residents of the school community hope the new Grand Caillou Middle School will finally put them out of the floods' reach.</p><p>School Board officials gathered at the site Tuesday to break ground on the new building. It was a moment that's been a long time in the making for School Board member Roger DeHart, who said he's been pushing to find land and money for the new school for more than a decade.</p><p>“The students at this school deserve better than what they've got,” he said. “Every time we get a major hurricane, that school floods, and all those kids' learning just gets completely disrupted.”</p><p>The effort has faced some hurdles. Near the very end of the process, the building's cost jumped to $15.7 million from an original budget of $12 million.</p><p>But DeHart said he's happy with the price in the end. The school system is paying for the school with special interest-free bonds, and the Walter Land Co. donated the property on which it will sit.</p><p>“Building a new school is a rare event. It's a very big deal,” DeHart said. “We're building something that will last for generations.”</p><p>Merlin Lirette, the architect who designed the building, said the school will be built as flood-proof as possible.</p><p>The almost 58,000-square-foot building will sit behind the parish's new Thompson Road levee expansion, which should make it less vulnerable to storm surge.</p><p>It will stand 10 feet above sea level and be two stories tall, with all the classrooms, computer labs and other vital academic areas a floor off the ground. It will be made of materials that are easy to maintain and clean, so the process of recovering from any storms that cause flooding will be much easier.</p><p>Lirette said Thibodaux-based Thompson Construction Co., which is also building the freshman expansion at H.L. Bourgeois High School, will finish the building by the fall of 2014. </p><p>That can't come soon enough for Fabre.</p><p>“The kids and the teachers and the parents just can't wait,” she said. “We've been waiting so long for this school, and we're going to be so, so proud when we finally have it.”</p><p>Staff Writer Matthew Albright can be reached at 448-7635 or at matthew.albright@dailycomet.com.</p>